Aren't We All?
by Ms. Issippi
Summary: She didn't know how to tell him, so she didn't. Norma-ler. How The Once-ler lived after the close of his factory. Not-so-short, and possibly dumb.


**A/N: Something not-so-short and sweet for Norma-ler, to get me out of my writing slump. There are multiple references to the 1972 TV special here, including the title. Just a warning, this is probably very dumb. **

**Once-ler and Norma's relationship is left ambiguous, so that you can decide for yourself.**

* * *

_For he's a jolly good Once-ler, aren't we all?_

It was two days after the initial close of his factory. His family had left him, disowned him. The animals that lived in the forest had left as well; fleeing the barren wasteland they had once called their home, fleeing the once beautiful place that he himself had destroyed. Even the Lorax had left. He'd never forget the grim look on his face, when he heisted himself by the seat of his pants and took leave of the place, through a hole in the smog without leaving a trace.

The only person who remained by his side was his dear Norma. She huffed and puffed, the smogular smoke trapped in her frail lungs. Together they sat on the edge of his newly built Lurkim, looking up at the smog filled sky. Not a trace of the once blue sky remained, his factory made sure of that.

Once-ler let out a sigh and removed his blue sunglasses. There was no need for them now that the sun was hidden and the paparazzi were gone. He set them down beside him and heard Norma cough again. He adjusted the Thneed lying on his shoulders so that his nose was covered by the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk, what the Thneeds smelled like. He had been worrying slightly for Norma, since her cough seemed to be getting worse and worse with each passing day. She did not ever complain, and whenever he said something about it she brushed it off and changed the subject so quickly that you couldn't remember what you were just talking about, but he was sure it was not just a cough from a common cold. He knew that it was the smog that had plagued her.

Silently, he removed the Thneed from his shoulders and wrapped it around her in a similar fashion. He knew that she needed it more than he did; the smog didn't really affect him too much. She turned and coughed into the Thneed before thanking him. He nodded his reply, focusing on the gray horizon, trying to remember what it looked like before his whole Thneed industry. He couldn't.

Norma sighed and looked over to Once-ler, and he turned to face her as well. She had a certain sadness gleaming in her eyes, but he didn't know what exactly had her worried most. Once-ler had grown accustomed to Norma's ways of showing her emotions; and he was quite proud to say that he was the only person who could read her like an open book. Once-ler could only guess that Norma was sad about the animals leaving or the ruined forest. So Once-ler tried his best to comfort her.

"They'll come back, Norma. Everything will grow back eventually. I hope." He said, unconvincing. Norma shook her head in defeat. She closed her eyes behind her round rimmed glasses and stood, removing the Thneed. She held out her hand to help him up, and her eyes gleamed with sadness once more.

"They can't come back, Oncie. Not without food. Or a place to live. You've chopped down every truffula tree in the forest, and polluted both the air and the river." Norma said sadly, coughing again. Once-ler looked down, crossing his arms and sighing. He knew what he had caused. And he regretted every bit of it.

"Look," Norma began, reaching for his hand gently. She pulled something out of her pocket, a small bundle covered by a clean white handkerchief. "Treat those with care. Put them away and store them somewhere safe. They're truffula tree seeds." Norma said, handing him the bundle. He looked at it with curiosity, then back up to her. She grabbed her stomach and looked away from him. "…I've been collecting them for a while now. Just in case. I feared something like this would happen. But they're hard to find, especially when the trees were being chopped down four at a time." She said, still not facing him. "Norma, this… well, this may be what we need. You and I can plant the forest again, this…" He looked over at her, smiling slightly, but it faded the moment he saw her face. She was solemn and unhappy.

"I'm… leaving. I'm leaving tomorrow, Oncie. I didn't know how to tell you earlier, so… I didn't…" She said quietly, so softly that he didn't know if that's what she actually said or not. She coughed again and he looked at her in disbelief. "What… why? Is it because of what I did?" He asked uncertainly, hoping he could get her to stay, but she shook her head. "No, Oncie… Well, yes, but it's not because I'm mad at you. It's because of this smog. I can't live like this, Oncie. It's not good for me. So I'm moving back to town with my parents, where maybe the air will be cleaner. I'm sorry, Once, I really am. You know how much I care about you." She said, rubbing her stomach again. He held the small bundle close to his chest. He didn't know if he should stay to plant the trees, or if he could go with her to live in town.

She could sense his predicament, and lightly touched his shoulder reassuringly. "I want you to stay, Oncie. Plant the trees. Grow a forest. Living in town wouldn't be very safe for you anyway. Most people hate you for smogging the air, putting them out of a job and not making Thneeds anymore. I don't think it would be best for you to come into town. "She said, coughing again. "…I understand, Norma." He said weakly. He didn't want her to leave; she was the only person who hadn't left him out of spite. But if it was for her health or well-being, he couldn't reject her. He would never.

That night, he couldn't sleep. He couldn't tell if Norma was asleep either, but he didn't dare wake her in case she was asleep. Sleep was the only time she wasn't coughing. He didn't want to cause her to worry, either. So he settled on just watching her rest. It was the only thing he could do.

And when morning finally arrived, Once-ler watched sadly as Norma made her way into her parent's car, her father glaring with intense hatred at him. Norma sadly looked back at him, waving slightly. He clutched the sack of truffula seeds tightly, waving back. The Wiggins' car let out a puff of smoke in his face as they drove off, just as his own family's had. Never had he felt so alone.

He counted his total number of seeds. In all, he had seven seeds. He knew he should plant them now, since he had heard from the Lorax that it takes ten months for the seed to germinate, ten years to grow into a sapling, and ten more years for the tree to fully grow. If he wanted to regrow the forest, he should start immediately. But he felt too weary to do anything other than sit at his window and mope. And so he saved regrowing the forest for another day. Maybe he'd feel better by the next day.

* * *

The next day turned into another day, and another day turned into ten more days. Once-ler had not touched the batch of seeds since the moment he had left them on his desk. All he did was stare at them. He occasionally ate one meal a day from his supply, which would last him quite some time.

Ten more days turned into countless weeks that the seeds were not touched. Once-ler had boarded up the window he sat at, for the unemployed and reckless teenagers often came to his home to try and throw things at him. To beg him to find more trees and make more Thneeds and re-open his factory. But he ignored them and gave them one-word responses. He did not wish to speak with anyone.

Very rarely, a brave soul would venture out of Thneedville to speak with him about his story. They did not throw things at him or yell at him, but they asked him to tell how the forest became the way it did. And he'd tell them bit by bit over the course of a few days. When he felt that the person truly cared or had actually listened by the time his story had finished, he gave them a seed. But he did so very rarely. He had to be cautious with the fate of the truffula trees.

It was on one day that a letter made its way at his door that it had been nearly 30 years since he had received the seeds from Norma. The letter was from her. It was written hastily, so he could hardly make out what it said. But when he did read it, he nearly fainted from shock.

Their daughter's name was Helen. It turns out that Norma had given birth a few months after she had left Once-ler, and had been taking care of her since. She didn't know how to tell him sooner, so she never did. It was only until Helen had her own child that she found the right words to tell him.

Once-ler had changed in the past thirty years. He was no longer the greedy businessman he used to be, his clothes were old and dusty, his once raven colored hair had grayed, and he had even grown a bushy mustache, much resembling the Lorax's. So when the news came that he was now a father _and _a grandfather, he had done nothing but mope, not even eating. He couldn't go into town, there'd be too much to explain and he wouldn't be able to face it. Besides, there was a newly built wall surrounding Thneedville, where he heard they were now selling fresh air. What a ridiculous idea. Nobody came to visit him anymore. Either they couldn't leave town, forgot he existed, or didn't care about trees. He had only one remaining seed left; he treated it with the utmost care. He was much too old to plant it himself. So all he had to do was wait for the right person to come along and claim the fate of the truffula seeds.

Norma would understand. He just couldn't do it himself.

Years later, a young boy finally came to visit him. His name was Ted, and he wanted to get a tree to impress a girl. Once-ler knew that the boy wanted the tree badly. And after three days of his story, Once-ler decided to trust Ted. He let the last truffula seed fall into the boy's hands. Once-ler could only hope that Ted would truly care for the seed, unlike the others he had trusted who didn't even try.

He knew Norma would understand.

When Once-ler had heard the crashing of the wall to Thneedville and the song of joy from the villagers, he knew Ted had done right. He grabbed his ax that he used in the past to chop down truffula trees, and knocked down the wooden boards on his window, sticking his head outside for the first time in thirty years. He saw the blue sky of Thneedville and the now destroyed wall. He smiled.

"Thank you, Ted." Once-ler managed.

_For he's a jolly good Once-ler, aren't we all…?_


End file.
